


It Takes A Village

by WitchyBee



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Big Brother Sans, Brotherly Love, Bullying, Child Papyrus, Comfort/Angst, Everyone Has Issues, Friendship, Gen, Kid Fic, Pre-Game(s), The Skelebros Are Poor, Younger Brother Papyrus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-29 21:23:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6394357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchyBee/pseuds/WitchyBee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sans, who's barely out of striped shirts himself, struggles to make ends meet and raise little Papyrus alone. But, fortunately, he's not alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“S-SANS?”

He opened his eyes. Sans could sleep like the dead through anything, with the exception of his little brother’s voice. Papyrus stood there clutching his well-loved stuffed animal to his chest. The origin of the ragged bunny, like that of Sans’ favorite blue hoodie, was unknown. Like the origin of the brothers themselves. A mystery that gave him a headache whenever he thought about it too long.

“you alright, bro? can’t sleep?” It wasn’t an uncommon occurence. Papyrus hardly seemed to need rest at all sometimes.

“SORRY. I-I KNOW YOU REALLY NEED SLEEP BUT..."

"pap?"

"...FLUFFY BUNNY HAD A BAD DREAM,” he said.

Ah. Of course. “ok. do you and fluffy bunny wanna sleep here tonight?”

A nod.

“c'mere, baby bones.”

“I’M NOT A BABY,” the little skeleton protested with all the conviction of which a tired kid is capable. “I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

“ ‘course. i bet you’ll be taller than me before ya know it, huh?”

“NYEH HEH HEH...”

Papyrus climbed quickly into bed, snuggling close beside him. One small bony hand pressed very lightly against Sans' chest to feel the reassuring thrum of magic flowing through his SOUL.

“...does, uh, fluffy bunny want to talk about it?”

Papyrus shook his head. A beat of silence passed, then: “I DON’T REMEMBER, BUT IT WAS DARK. AND SCARY.”

“it’s gonna be okay, pap. we're okay.” But even as he said it, a dull pain throbbed behind his left eye, and he couldn't bring himself to add 'i promise.' Their lives sometimes felt like an unsolvable equation, or perhaps a jigsaw puzzle with most of the pieces missing. Never quite whole.

Eventually, they both managed to fall asleep. A dreamless sleep, thank the Angel.

—l—l—l-------l---

“SANS, WAKE UP, LAZYBONES!”

“mmfph five more minutes.”

“SAAAANS!!!”

He opened his eyes, and groaned. Papyrus stood there impatiently in his red snowboots, which could only mean that it was morning. Time to drop Pap off at school. Then time for Sans to go to work. One of his jobs, anyway. Ugh.

“ok, ok. i’m up.” He rolled out of bed and put on his slippers. “let’s go.”

“WHAT ABOUT BREAKFAST? MY TEACHER SAYS IT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY.”

Right. Food. Sans didn’t know the first thing about cooking, but his brother loved to try anyway, and because it made Pap happy, Sans somehow scraped together enough gold and energy to cook dinner with him at least once a week, occasionally with edible results. If not for Papyrus, he would subsist on nothing but a diet of ketchup, potato chips, and greasy burgers.

“wanna stop by grillby’s on the way?” he suggested hopefully.

“NOOO!!!”

Sans shrugged. “it was worth a shot. how about the shop then?”

Papyrus agreed. They headed out into the frigid Snowdin morning.

-l--l---l----l-----l--

The shop smelled strongly of fresh baked Cinnamon Bunnies. It was cozy and warm. The shopkeeper, Olivia, gave Sans and Papyrus a smile; it was warm, too.

“Good morning!” the purple rabbit greeted them cheerfully. Even Sans, who was not by nature a morning person–or a being awake ever person–felt his smile grow a little more genuine.

“GOOD MORNING!!!” Papyrus responded with bright-eyed enthusiasm.

“How can I help you two?”

“hey olivia. i’ll take a ‘bun for my bro.”

Papyrus frowned, despite the delicious cinnamon treat he was about to recieve. “SANS, YOU HAVE TO EAT SOMETHING TOO! YOUR HP–”

“It’s fine, pap. i’ll eat at grillby’s later.” Where, as an employee, he was entitled to one free meal a day, and his ever-increasing tab was never mentioned by the bartender, probably, he suspected, because of that night a year ago when Grillby had caught Sans rummaging through the trash for scraps of food.

Like Pap, Olivia was kind almost to a fault. Her sister, too. Maybe it ran in their family. But she didn’t know him like Grillby did, and there was only so much charity he could stand to accept before the guilt felt overwhelming. Papyrus, however, was more than worthy of all the Cinnamon Bunnies in the Underground. His little bro deserved everything Sans could possibly provide.

He exchanged 25G for a paper bag containing...two Cinnamon Bunnies.

“olivia,” Sans started, a slight edge of seriousness in his voice. Fortunately Pap was busy trying on a manly bandana and posing heroically, so he didn’t take any notice of their conversation. “i’m flat broke right now. i–”

“Listen, I know life’s tough and folks gotta keep their pride, but just take the pastries. We both know that sweet boy will give you half of his otherwise, and you'd feel even worse when you have to eat it because you can't deny him anything. Tell me I'm wrong.”

Olivia was right. “yeah. ok. thanks.”

“You’re very welcome. Now get going, or you’ll both be late.”

“nah.” Sans winked mischeviously. “i know a shortcut.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thus one's very Papyrus-centric.

Papyrus liked school. He liked reading, and learning monster history. He liked playing with the other children during recess.

He even liked the self-proclaimed Cool Club – a clique which consisted of Ice Cap, Chilldrake, Snowdrake, and, for some reason, Migosp. They were mean, sure, but they could be nice. Everyone could be a great person if they just tried. They simply needed a good influence to show them how!

The Cool Club’s favorite game was Monsters & Humans. Somehow Papyrus always ended up having to be the human. Since they were all too young for real FIGHTs and most barely had a grasp of basic magical attacks anyway, Papyrus would dodge snowballs as he ran from the monsters who inevitably captured him and took his “human SOUL” (any gold or candy Papyrus happened to have on him.) It was never very much fun. But not once did it occur to him that the game was unfair.

That is, until he met Undyne.

“HEY! What do you punks think you’re doing?” a commanding voice rang out. They all turned in its dirdction, and there, standing valiently atop the slide, was a New Kid. Blunt practice spear in hand, and a red scarf fluttering heroically in the wind just like her wild red hair. Papyrus immediately wanted to be friends with her more than he’d ever wanted anything in his entire life.

Snowdrake spoke up. “Chill out,” he said meekly. “We’re just playing Monsters & Humans.”

“Oh yeah? Because to me it looks like you’re picking on this skeleton kid and using that game as a damn excuse!” There were several awed gasps in response to her curse. She flipped her spear. “If you keep this up, you will have to face ME in combat!”

Ice Cap snorted. “Are we supposed to be impressed? Scared? Who exactly are you to boss us around anyway? You’re not a teacher. You’re not even a grown up. You’re a hatless nothing!”

The hotheaded monster cartweeled down the slide and stuck the landing perfectly, still holding her spear. She was even more intimidating up close, flashing a big gap-toothed smile. “I am the protégée of Gerson, the Hammer of Justice! Trained by King Asgore Dreemurr himself! Undyne the Undying!”

“WE DON’T CARE!” yelled Migosp.

“Yeah! We defy you! And whatever you stand for!” Chilldrake added. “Right, Snowy?”

Snowdrake had gone strangely silent, Papyrus noticed. He looked...nervous, and sad. “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Snowdrake muttered to his friend. “Fighting isn’t very…cool, y'know? And it’s what she wants, so we should just be true rebels and...not fight?” Papyrus didn’t want anyone to fight either.

Chilldrake considered this reasoning for a long time, and nodded in agreement. The pair fluttered away. Ice Cap, very unsatisfied with the amount of attention currently being paid to its hat, strutted off in defeat, which left Migosp alone without a care in the world.

“Bullies are cowards,” Undyne sneered before turning to Papyrus. “You okay? What’s your name?”

“PAPYRUS. I MEAN, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!!”

“Wow, is that how loud you talk all the time? I LIKE IT! They didn’t hurt you, did they, Papyrus?”

“NO. I GUESS THIS MEANS I WINf”

Undyne looked confused. “What?”

“MONSTERS & HUMANS? I’VE NEVER WON BEFORE. I STILL HAVE HALF OF THIS CINNAMON BUNNY! DO YOU WANT TO SHARE IT?”

She looked a bit more confused, then slightly angry. “No. It’s yours. You shouldn’t let people take advantage of you like that. Sometimes you have to look out for yourself.”

“OH,” Papyrus said, but he didn’t really understsnd. He had Sans to look out for him, after all. A pause. He shifted uncomfortably, tense with excitement and hope. “UM...UNDYNE? YOU’RE REALLY COOL! ALMOST AS COOL AS ME. DO YOU MAYBE...WANT TO BE FRIENDS? WITH ME?”

Her expression split into a huge smile. “Yeah, sure NERD! Here.” She removed the red scarf from around her neck and gave it to Papyrus. “Keep it. This means we’re gonna be BESTIES forever!” Undyne did nothing by halves.

Papyrus couldn’t wait to tell his brother the news. He had made a friend! A best friend??

–l—–l——l-l—l-

Dinner was ketchup sandwiches and soggy leftover fries from Grillby’s, but not even that could dampen Papyrus’ mood. He told Sans how Undyne had appeared at recess like a figure straight out of a human history book.

A knock came at the door just as Papyrus was dramatically retelling the day’s main event for the seventh time that evening. Sans didn’t so much get up and answer it as vanish and rematerialize at the front door. When he opened it, Sans said, “papyrus, you’ve got a visitor.”

Papyrus jumped up excitedly. He had never had a visitor before! He must be more popular than he'd thought. Maybe it was Undyne!

Snowdrake waved awkwardly. “Uh, hey, Papyrus. ICE to see you again. Ha...ha. Can I...talk to you for a minute? I want to apologize...for what happened today.”

Apologize? It had been the best day of Papyrus’ life. Still, he recognized this as an opportunity to show Snowdrake a better way, so they stepped outside, their footsteps crunching softly in the fresh snow.

“I used to live in New Home before I came here,” Snowdrake told him.

He blinked, surprised. “WOWIE. THAT’S SO FAR AWAY!”

“That was kind of the idea, actually. My mom, she…she, uh, f-fell down.” Tiny droplets of meltwater trickled from Snowdrake’s eyes. Papyrus felt tears sting in his own eyes as well, and a twinge of pain deep in his SOUL that was nameless and inexplicable.

“I couldn’t stand it there anymore with just my dad," Snowdrake went on. "He didn’t care either way, so I left. Came to Snowdin. Chill and his mom took me in. They’ve been totally...COOL about everything. Sorry. I know Dad was right; I’m not funny.”

“OF COURSE YOU ARE. BUT MAYBE I AM NOT YHE BEST AUDIENCE. I LIVE WITH SANS.” Who, Papyrus didn’t mention, also tended to make more awful puns than usual when he was feeling sad.

“Good point. It’s just…I realized today that Mom would be disappointed in how I’ve been acting. I’m so sorry...”

Papyrus suspected that a lot of this might not be meant for him at all. But that was okay. He hugged Snowdrake and said, “I KNEW YOU COULD DO BETTER. I’M PROUD OF YOU!”

Snowdrake wiped his eyes. “Thanks, Papyrus. I haven't really talked to anyone about this stuff before. So, um...friends?”

“YOU MEAN IT? WOWIE! TWO WHOLE NEW FRIENDS IN ONE DAY!!!”

“Yeah. Chilldrake will probably want to hangout, too, if I ask his mom to tell him being friends with you is against the rules.”

Papyrus had always found it difficult to make friends, and now his friend count was more than twice what it had been this morning.


End file.
